1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a printer with a paper cutter of which the fixed knife is attached to the printer frame and the movable knife is attached to an access cover that is attached to the printer frame so that the access cover can open and close. More particularly, the invention relates to a printer with a cutter that assures safety when opening and closing the cover to which the movable knife is attached.
2. Related Art
Roll paper printers with a paper cutting mechanism convey the web of recording paper pulled from a paper roll through a paper feed path from the roll paper compartment passed the printing position and cutting position to the recording paper exit. A print head prints on the recording paper at the printing position, and an automatic cutter cuts the recording paper at the cutting position. The automatic cutter has a fixed knife and a movable knife pair disposed to the cutting position with the cutting edges facing the paper feed path. The movable knife can move between a standby position where there is a specific gap open between its cutting edge and the fixed knife, and an end-of-cutting position where the entire cutting edge overlaps the body of the fixed knife.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Appl. Pub. JP-A-2001-121764 teaches this type of roll paper printer with a paper cutter. In the roll paper printer with a cutter taught in JP-A-2001-121764, the fixed knife is disposed to the printer frame in which the roll paper compartment is formed, and the movable knife is attached to the access cover that opens and closes to the printer case to open and close the roll paper compartment. The movable knife is in the cutting position when the cover is in the closed position and the roll paper compartment is closed, and is moved from the cutting standby position toward the end-of-cutting position when cutting the recording paper.
With the printer taught in JP-A-2001-121764 there is no interference between the movable knife and the fixed knife when the cover opens because the movable knife is disposed to the open side of the cover relative to the fixed knife. As a result, the cover can be opened even if the automatic cutter fails while cutting the paper and the movable knife stops at the end-of-cutting position after moving from the cutting standby position.
When the cover opens when the movable knife has moved from the cutting standby position to the end-of-cutting position side, the movable knife moves with the cover while protruding from the cover, and is thus exposed outside the printer. It is therefore possible for the operator to be cut by the cutting edge of the movable knife while opening the access cover.